The Drew Young Experiment

He was the central element of the group Ruben Kincaid and made his first solo album in 1998 (reviewed here in RifRaf). Finally there is a sequel. Apparently Drew Young has specialised even further in making sophisticated pop with acoustic intermezzi. The melodic richness is detailed in a subtle way by of some extra colouring with violins and accordeon. Related names that pop up by listening to this record are Divine Comedy, Al Stewart, Lloyd Cole, Fat's Garden and even David Bowie and Steely Dan. You can hear clearly the touch of producer Glen Tarachow, someone who is very active in the New York scene of film, television and theater. He also worked with well known jazz artists as Wallace Roni and Geri Allen. It's about time that Drew Young gets finally a serious distribution deal in Europe." Contact: www.DrewYoung.com. (with MP3 files). (gtb) - Rif Raf Magazine (Belgium)

Part-time New Orleanian Drew Young captures the city's laid-back groove on his new disc, No Good at Being Cool. Young combines delicate string parts, layers of acoustic guitar, drum loops and a whispery vocal style to craft musical confessions and love stories that are reminiscent of Psychedelic Furs, the Cure and other seminal modern rock bands
at their most hypnotic.



— Rich Collins , InsideNewOrleans.com - New Orleans Live

In a world of vanishing reference points, it's music we veterans use to collect ourselves. Drew is, dare we say it, drunk or thinking drunk most of the time, and by that definition, conquering all our fear and concerns by not taking things too seriously. But Drew is not talking any shit. Here is someone who survived his own adolescence. He intoxicates real life with stories and observations that can only come from hard years in the craft. Just hear the chords and the changes against his salmagundi of lyrics hewn of the finest people watching, bar room speculation, and soul searching. <br>The regrets in "Ordinary Day", very much like he's airing out his head. Other songs are reminiscient of a younger Bob Dylan conversing with an older Lisa Loeb in a timeless, time-in-a-bottle place. Drew's years in Athens, GA and New Orleans come through in the open sounds of his acoustic guitar on "Come To Me". And yet he has NYC sophistication, especially in the drums, from the  background of very seamless production. <br>     <br>     Drew Young goes down very smooth. Smooth like a mountain stream. Note the comparison to a fine lager. Straight up, it's the kind of music that belongs in a cold glass for when you're free to kick back. If your life had very atmospheric, in-the-narrative, unobtrusive music telling of desperations and subtleties, it would be Drew Young's latest, "No Good At Being Cool", a meditation on how he managed to stop thinking so much and just go with it, whatever it is. When you make for the time for the drive through Big Sky Montana with someone next to you, you'll want a copy of "Come To Me" playing on your stereo, while you stare at how big it really is.<br><br>— Mark Volpe - Mark Volpe

Drew Young's new CD fuses quicksilver pop sensibilities and the languorous rhythms of life down South where he was born. It reminds me of a softer and gentler DB's, maybe a sweet but not saccharine send up of Burt Bacharach. Which is all to say I like it. Very much. - Oxford American

Pop crooner Drew Young’s second album is a collage of the personal, the painful and the poignant. The characters who inhabit these songs are lonely souls, grasping at whatever they can to keep from going under. Damaged by the complexities of life and failed relationships, they struggle constantly to keep their personal demons at bay. Listening to this collection, we get the sense that some of these characters are right on the verge of a permanent breakdown. Drew underscores that idea with a haunting lyricism and a loose rhyming scheme that sometimes makes it sound like the character is simply struggling for something to say. On “Beautiful Loser,” for instance, we hear him sing: “If I had a place to be/ I’d be there and not here/ I can’t sleep and I’m a wreck right now.”
There’s a kind of bitter irony at work here, too. Drew masterfully juxtaposes his tortured stories with contagious pop grooves that seem to belie his haunted lyrics. It’s as if his characters are pretending to be happy despite their isolation and resignation. “Hats Off To You” is so catchy and danceable that it stays with you despite its acid-sour lyrics of “hats off to you my sweet, I threw your clothes out in the street, and now I’m free.”
Musically speaking, there are lots and lots of influences here. That’s very fitting considering the many musical environments Drew has been a part of. Among other places, he lived in Athens, Georgia, during the heyday of its musical renaissance of the early 1980s. More recently he spent a number of years in New Orleans, a town that literally boils over with innovative performers. It would be impossible to be a singer-songwriter in such places, and not be affected by all that creativity.
Perhaps that’s why Drew’s music is a fusion of styles and influences. It’s pop-gumbo, if you will. There’s a lot of really fine guitar work here, under-dubbed with slight traces of dreamy electronica and drum work. The music on this album is similar to that of Beth Orton’s, but the comparison is certainly not a perfect one. Ultimately, the only way to understand Drew’s music is to hear it first-hand. Every true artist is also original, despite all of the borrowing that is inevitable in music, and Drew is certainly no exception to that. Pop Music is his medium, and he uses it to create a canvas that is a reflection of his true artistic self. What more could one ask from a performer?
- The Villager